IN BETWEEN SILENCE, WHERE WE REALLY EXIST.

Transcription

1 IN BETWEEN SILENCE, WHERE WE REALLY EXIST. STANO 1

2 BACKGROUND... 2 What The Storytellers Say... 3 New York Audience Comments (2018)... 4 Reviews... 5 THE PORCELAIN BOOK... 6 About... 7 Contributors... 7 Porcelain Book Images... 9 Paula Meehan... 9 Roddy Doyle Anne Enright STANO History Music Visual Art Contact: Background In Between Silence, where we really exist is a collection of intimate personal stories by diverse participants, including many leading Irish writers and artists. Devised by groundbreaking Irish artist STANO. The project launched at the International Literature Festival Dublin in May 2016 and made its North American debut in December 2016, in the off Broadway Barrow Street Theatre, New York. STANO s unique creative process has been described by Roddy Doyle and Joseph O Connor as a new art form. Irish poet, Theo Dorgan, describes it as a total experience, a multidimensional world in sound, the way the soundscape travels you into the story, is really quite uncanny. STANO is a very strong force inside the artistic life of Ireland. 'In Between Silence' is an entirely Irish conception celebrating universal consciousness, the value of people's ordinary thoughts in a communal and universally beguiling manner. STANO himself says of the project: I create a musical composition for each participant in advance of their coming to the studio. I don t hear the story and the participants don t 2

3 hear the composition until they start to record. I want to capture the spontaneous response of each person to the music and the impact it has on their delivery. Seated in the darkness, the stories unfold for the audience, punctuated only by the appearance of a single image of significance to the story, which appears at the end of each piece. My interest is in rediscovering the power of the shared experience of music and storytelling, of listening, of allowing our imagination to bring us on our own journey while engaging with the voice of the storyteller. The audience sit comfortably in a darkened space and hear a range of stories, that pull at their heartstrings, make them laugh, but most of all they share in the most basic of human interactions, our desire to share the stories of our lives with each other. The stories are more than words, they connect with us at a deep level that we carry with us long after the experience of listening. What The Storytellers Say RODDY DOYLE, writer Working with Stano was an extraordinary, surprising experience. I was deeply moved when I first heard the music that he had joined to my words, and how he d filled and stretched the gaps between the words and sentences, how he d taken a couple of hundred spoken words and made, to my ear, something brand new, a new form of storytelling, out of them. DERMOT BOLGER, writer (The National Museum of Ireland): I listened to Brian Palms story and within 90 seconds of it I knew that I trusted Stano implicitly and that sense of trust is so important. You don t always trust people and particularly when you re a writer, because you re dealing with producers and people are trying to make you say things in a certain way and there was a sense that here was somebody who was opening up this space where you could say what you wanted to say. With this project, Stano is producing a reservoir of stories of our lives, of what it s like to be in the world. THEO DORGAN, poet (Arena RTE Radio 1): It s a kind of a paradox. Stano has brought us to the cinema to listen to stories and look at nothing, but of course you re not looking at nothing, you re looking at something that s inside the whole imaginative space of your own consciousness. There s an image at the end of each piece so you do get a little bit of visual stimulus but the stimulus is in the sounds and in the words, it s in the soundscape. It s more than what we think of as music.i don t think I ve ever experienced such a kaleidoscope of images in the dark. MIKE GARRY, poet I do readings all the time and often to music, but I ve never known music to fit the spoken word like this. STANO What I m trying to do is underpin the story with an atmosphere, with a mood, because stories are really visual and my background is in manipulating sound and almost doing a soundtrack to a film that doesn t exist, that s really what I m doing. Its harking back to when we sat around the fire telling stories, the crackle of the fire would have been the soundscape, I m trying to recreate that feeling. 3

4 New York Audience Comments (2018) CONNIE ROBERTS, poet I grew up in an industrial school in the Irish midlands during the 1960s and 70s. Stano s film In Between Silence transported me back to Saint Brigid s dormitory, where, after the lights are quenched and the head nun retires to her cell, out of the darkness, Josie Reilly, starts in to tell her story. How she came to be placed in the orphanage (her grandfather, lighting a cigarette dropped a match in the barn, setting fire to the straw, destroying the family home). The foster family who locked her in a garage, tossed her bananas and gave her headless dolls to play with. A true seanachai, Josie was born for it, storytelling. She chewed and chewed on her story like seaside toffee till she had us girls clutching our candlewick bedspreads to our eyes. Whether you re in a darkened dormitory or a darkened theater listening to a disembodied voice tell a story, all your senses are heightened. Your imagination takes flight. You are an orphaned aboriginal boy eating a monk s satellite chocolate Easter egg you were dispatched to the post office to collect. You are a dapper Irishman in topcoat and hat on all fours on a wall on your 86th birthday. You are a young woman hidden behind asylum walls after speaking your truth about the priest. You are a daughter at your mother s feet aching for a lost brother, a lost son. (In Between Silence.) Stano s original music subtly reinforces the sensory experience, stretching the emotional range, often after all the words are spent. In today s world, we are constantly bombarded by unwanted noise. How wonderful to go In Between Silence, hear ourselves think. Imagine. LESLIE HORWITZ, writer At first, if you were to go by a description, you find it difficult to imagine what it's like. To sit in an audience and stare at a blank screen while listening to someone's story? Why go to the trouble of attending in person when you could hear the same story on the radio or from a podcast? But then you actually sit down in a darkened theater and within a few minutes, you are captured by the voice of the narrator and as the music washes over you, you realize that of course, you couldn't duplicate this experience by listening to a radio or a podcast. The experience is not only immersive but mesmerizing and hypnotic, almost meditative. It is because you are limited to looking at a blank screen for the duration that the effect is so powerful. Any distraction, even a video with the narrator, would break the spell. The stories themselves -- moving, suspenseful, poignant, unbearably confessional --- pull you in. Within the ten or twelve minutes that each narrator has to tell his or her story you feel an immediacy, an emotional connection. It's a reminder, if any were needed, why storytelling is so fundamental to our lives, why children since time immemorial want to hear a bedtime story before they fall asleep, why in this respect at least, we have much in common with our ancestors who huddled by a fire in their caves and told one another stories and for the same reasons we do now: to entertain, to instruct, to inspire hope or dread, or to shed a small light on the mystery of our existence. 4

5 to Dublin City Arts Officer Ray Yeates from KAT RAPHEAL WOLFFE. I just wanted to pop you a quick note and say thank you. I was able to hop a flight to NYC and pop into Stano s show. What a treat to be able to experience something that started by forcing you to pay attention to understand what was happening, and then transformed into something that you could get completely focused and engulfed in. I tend to be one of those people that has a brain that pays attention to everything and is unable to shut down completely to focus. By taking everything else away and allowing the music to carry you, there was an intimacy created between the stories, and listener. I also really appreciated being able to paint my own picture of the people and then discovering what/who they were at the end. It was a truly unique and lovely experience. Reviews EMMANUEL TUOHEY (Irish Times) Stano s biggest challenge may be handling the exponential growth of this new art form. Other artists are keen to participate in the project and tell their stories. And he has received interest from people in the mental health and prison systems in Dublin, who think the storytelling may have therapeutic value for residents and inmates alike. Stano and Dunphy are naturally delighted with the response, but what matters to them is the truism spoken by another participant, photographer John Minihan, who said, What remains is the photograph. In other words, what matters is the final product ROSIE VAUGHN (theasy.com New York) In Between Silence, where we really exist is a sensory experience and a master class in storytelling, using beautiful soundscapes to subtly underscore the beautiful complexity of the human experience. I have always been of the frame of mind that nobody has quite managed to master the art of storytelling as skillfully as the Irish. For some reason, the importance of language, legacy, and oral tradition passed down through generations just seems to ring exceptionally true and deep when tied to the Emerald Isle. In Between Silence, a sensory multimedia experience developed and directed by self proclaimed Song Poet Stano, reinforces this belief. K. KROMBIE (Stage Buddy New York) There are myriad ways to tell stories, but a voice in the dark has a proximate visceral effect. Listening becomes heightened while the eyes follow the trace of in this case intimate recollections including stories passed on through networks of blood and empathy. In Between Silence, where we really exist is a collection of true stories recorded by chiefly Irish writers, produced by Irish composer and onetime Dublin punk scenester Stano to music of his own making. HOT PRESS Music Magazine...Lyrically and philosophically, if Sam Beckett was around today, I d say he d fancy a spell in the studio doing spoken word with Stano... 5

6 The Porcelain Book Created by: STANO (Composer) & KEVIN PIERCE (Ceramicist) Cover Page by Donald Teskey. 6

7 About The Porcelain Book is part of a Spoken Word recording project In Between Silence. The project is a combination of the music, the story, and the written word committed to porcelain. Porcelain is a material that has a permanence, when fired it will last forever. The project is designed to capture stories of our time, from great writers, artists from many disciplines and most significantly the man in the street. You are presented with a fragment of the story selected by the author and scribed on to the page, you can then choose to listen to the entire story in the voice of the author or read their selected lines. Its purpose is to be a physical and visual representation of the spoken word, of the personal stories, recorded to individually devised music scores in the studio. The porcelain page will be a lasting permanent testament to these stories of our time. It combines the new and the ancient, the recording studio being the new technological method of recording stories and the porcelain representing man s desire to leave his mark and his story for future generations. It represents man s desire to never be forgotten. It also captures the handwriting of the author. Each chapter will be held together using porcelain nuts and bolts. Contributors Aidan Gillen - Actor Alyssa Hinton Artist (Native American) Anne Enright - Writer 7

8 Barbara O Shea Journalist / Writer Bernadette Madden - Artist Brian Keenan - Writer Brian Maguire Artist Brian Palm Musician Damien Dempsey Musician Danny Morrison - Writer Dennis Driscoll Spoken Word Artist (New York) Denise Dunphy Film Lecturer Dermot Bolger Writer Donald Teskey Artist Gerard Fanning Poet (RIP) Honor Molloy Playwright Jeannette Rehnstrom Writer Jim Jermanok Film Producer (USA) John Duffy Artist (RIP) John Minihan - Photographer Joseph O Connor Writer Leslie Horwitz Writer (USA) Lorcan Walshe - Artist Kathleen Warner Yeates Actor Malachy McCourt Writer Marie Howe State Poet New York Mary Stokes Singer Matthew Ralli Writer / Director Melissa Sarah Ní Nualláin Actor / Theatre Producer Mike Garry Poet (Manchester) Mick O Dea Artist (President RHA) Nicky Kelly - Writer Paddy Kavanagh Artist (RIP) Paula Meehan Poet Patrick Bergin - Actor Ray Yeates Dublin City Arts Officer Robert Ballagh Artist Roger Lee Accountant Roisin McCannon YES group Ronan Wilmot - Actor Roddy Doyle Writer Sparky Youth Worker Theo Dorgan - Writer Thiru Sri Lankan Refuge Poet / Journalist Tony Curtis - Poet Vanessa Ronan Writer Wilson Moran African American 8

9 Porcelain Book Images Paula Meehan 9

10 Roddy Doyle 10

11 Anne Enright 11

12 STANO History Music Stano has been a musician since the early 1980s and began painting in the late 1980s. His music is textured, layered and beautifully expressive, his paintings are a visual expression of his music In Between Silence, where we really exist January First Irish Festival, Scandinavia House, New York 2017 In Between Silence, where we really exist September International Conference Arts in Mental Health St. Patricks Hospital, Dublin August 9th and 10th Féile an Phobail, Belfast. July Galway international Arts Festival April Cork World Book Festival March Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun. Stories form Ballymun artists and residents 2016 In Between Silence, where we really exist December 31st New year Festival, Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin December 1st 13th Barrow Street Theatre, New York City. October IndieCork Film Festival September National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks. Finding a Voice Stano in conversation with Dermot Bolger May International Litersture Festival Dublin 2014 DECODER Music, Film and 3D Projection/Mapping event in Meeting House Square, Dublin. CD release DECODER 2013 CD release Unknown Distance Music and Film Unspoken live event Meeting House Square, Dublin RHA Annual Exibition Holocaust Soundscape (in association with Ozmin Architecture) Two tracks included in an Irish Post Punk compilation album Strange Passion released on Cache and Finders Keepers labels 12

13 2011 Album - Trallywaggers Album - Memory Distorts a Life 2010 July Album - Blind Sound 2007 Album - Reverse Presence 2005 Solo exhibition Tomorrow Time Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun Collaborative dance piece with dancer/choreographer Jessica Kennedy Video installation in collaboration with Ciaran Deeney Wrote and produced the score for short film Rosebud Wrote and produced the score for award winning documentary Frank, Ned and Busy Lizzie by director Neasa Ni Chianain 2003 Masterclass - New York University. I was invited to give a Masterclass to sound recording students about my compositional style and recording techniques Wrote and produced the score for documentary Clares First Day by director David Rane Two compositions included on Michael O Shea s retrospective album (Dome Records) 2000 Recorded a number of classical compositions with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and members of RTE Symphony Orchestra leader Alan Smale, conductor Ken Rice 1999 Wrote and produced the score for award winning documentary Chiapas by director David Rane 1997 Produced and wrote album Fire in a Dream Cage by Irish artist L

14 Produced album Chicks Dig Scars for Irish band Wormhole 1995 Provided Master classes to audio students in DIT, Rathmines, Colaiste Dhulaigh, Coolock 1994 Album Wreckage (Hue Records) 1993 Produced and wrote album Words mean nothing, life s just wild by Irish artist L 1990 Single Morning (Mother Records) 1989 Album Only 1 st album (Mother Records / Island) Performance Denmark, Christianas Stano / Gerry Leonard (guitarist and musical director to David Bowie) 1988 Album (Instrumental) - Daphne will be born again (Dossier Records, Germany) 1987 Album - Seducing Decadence in Morning Treecrash (Dossier Records, Germany) 1986 Album - Content to Write in I Dine Weathercraft (Magnet Records, UK/Greece) 12 inch Remix - Chaplin (Dossier Records, Germany) 4 Track EP (Food Records, UK) 1985 Performances In 1985 I staged a number of performance art events in London, both solo and in collaboration with contemporaries such as Nigel Rolfe. The October Gallery, Russell Sq. London - Stano & Adrian Stint Brixton Gallery of Art Solo Performance The Tabernacle London - Stano / Nigel Rolfe Brixton Academy Stano / Virgin Prunes / Bauhaus 1984 Subject of an RTE radio Documentary The Story of Stano Tim Lehane Project Arts Centre Solo performance featuring Slide, Film and Spoken Word

15 Debut Album Content to Write in I Dine Weathercraft Project Arts Centre Performance Stano / Roger Doyle / Microdisney Exhibition - Wood sculptors 1982 Debut solo single - Room (Vox Records) Visual Art Stano served his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker in the late 1970s. He has been a musician since the early 1980s and began painting in the late 1980s. His music is textured, layered and beautifully expressive, his paintings are a visual expression of his music Solo exhibition Perth, Western Australia 2013 Nothing to be Gained In collaboration with John Duffy. City Hall, Dublin. Opened by Robert Ballagh 2012 Solo exhibition Perth, Western Australia 2011 Featured in RHA Annual Exhibition 2009 Solo exhibition Day is Curious, Outer Reaches - Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun Opened by Donald Teskey 2007 Group exhibition Here and Now - Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun Joint exhibition Stano, John Dufy and Bob Dixon From the Darkness into the Dawn - City Hall, Dublin Opened by Robert Ballagh 2006 Joint exhibition, Stano / John Duffy - Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun Group exhibition - Archway, Five Lamps, Dublin

16 Solo exhibition Tomorrow Time Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun Collaborative dance piece with dancer/choreographer Jessica Kennedy Video installation in collaboration with Ciaran Deeney 1998 Solo exhibition Ghost Flowers Signal Arts Centre, Bray 1997 Joint exhibition Sharkia Signal Arts Centre, Bray with Oona McFarland Contact: Denise Dunphy

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